E 457 
.H43 

Copy 2 



-H- Qui 

Lincoln 



JUVENJLE PUBLICATIONS OF 

L. H. NELSON CO., Portland, Me. 

POPULAR EDITION. 



32 pp., 8.\io, profusely illustrated. 
Little Stories of Great Pictures. 
The Story of Washington. 
The Story of Lincoln. 
The Story of Longfellow. 
The Courtship of Miles Standish. 
The Story of Whittier (in preparation) 
Paul Revere's Ride (in preparation) 

32 pp., 6xq. 
A Little Book of Conundrums. 



Also publishers Nelson's International 
Series of Souvenir Books, embracing all 
prominent cities and resorts of tlie United 
States and the Dominion of Canada. 



The Story of Lincoln 




by 
Virginia Heath 

Author of 

Little Stories of Great Pictures 
and " The Story of Washington " 



1905 

L. H. Nelson Company 

Portland, Maine 



H^^i 



LIBRARY of OONGSESS 
Iwo Copies Kcceiveu 

JAN 19 1905 

Q Couyriiiiii tiitry 

'oLHSS O- XXc No; 
/ oy / o i^ 
COPY e. 



Lincolniana 







., 


Standing like 


a tower, 


Our 


child 


ren sh 


ill behold his 


fame. 




The 


kindl) 


-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, 


Sagacious 


patient, dreading praise, not blame, 




New 


birth 


of our new so 


1, the first American." 








— James Russell Lowell. 



Copyright, IQ05, 

L. H. Nelson Company, 

Portland Maine. 




The Story ^/^ Lincoln 



P^EARLY a century has passed since the men and maidens of a quiet 
^'if»® village in Kentucky met to celebrate the wedding day of Thomas 
'^^'^■'^^^ Lincoln and his young bride Nancy. The ever-changing line that 
marks the borders of the West rested then over the territory of Indiana, and 
a large part of Kentucky was hardly more than a wilderness. Hospitality was 
the law of the land. The stranger, pausing on his journey for the night, 
became a guest of honor. The customs of the time were simple ; but there 
was no want of friendliness in the company that gathered around the rude 
table to wish the bride and bridegroom a long and prosperous life. The table 
was loaded with the delicacies of the period. Venison, bear-meat, wild turkey 
and ducks — all that the forest yielded was there in abundance, and what the 
occasion may have Licked in formality was made up in good cheer. 

The wedding festivities over, the young couple began housekeeping in a 
small cabin near Elizabethtown. The next year a wee daughter came to make 
the new home more homelike. Soon after the family moved to a farm on the 
Big South Fork of Nolin Creek. There, on February twelfth in the year 
eighteen hundred nine, a little boy was born. They gave him the grand old 
name of Abraham, never dreaming how grandly he was to bear it. 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




"'*»*^, 



Copyii^lit by S. S. McClure Company 
and reprinted through their courtesy 



" There, on February twelfth in the year eighteen hundred nine, 
a little buv was burn " 



The strong free 
spirit of the West 
where he afterwards 
li\'ed had much to do 
with the shaping of his 
character, but during 
the days of his baby- 
hood our hero was a 
child of t h e South. 
The honor of being 
his birthphice belongs 
to the State of Ken- 
tucky. How great an 
honor it was the men 
and women of that far- 
away time httle knew. 
They saw a slender 
boy busy at his play and to them he seemed like other children as, indeed, he 
was in all outward ways. His pleasures were those of the woods and the 
fields. Picking berries in the summer, gathering nuts in the autumn, each 
year venturing deeper into the forest that made so fascinating a playground, 
the lad grew wise in woodland lore. His sweet-faced mother taught him to see 
the beauty that lies in common things. 

The hardships which pressed so heavily on the parents touched the 
younger ones but lightly. The Lincoln children found life pleasant enough 
and thought but seldom of the comforts that were missing. When they moved 
westward to southern Indiana, the seven days' journey seemed a marvelous 
adventure. School lite was no less exciting, but of this they had only a taste. 
The boy especially was eager to learn. The age in which he lived was a busy 
one. Its daytime hours were filled for the most part with work suited to his 
strength. When the evening came, seated in the chimney corner, or stretched 
at full length before the glowing fire, he made friends with his books. These 
were few in number, but their quality was of the best. The Bible, Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's Progress, /Esop's Fables, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe complete the 
modest list. The blaze that brightened the bare walls of the humble room 
fell with gentle warmth on the earnest face of the reader, bending over the 
precious volumes whose lines he knew by heart. He learned to write and " do 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



his sums " by the same friendly fireside, using its wooden shovel for a slate. 

Gradually he became known as something of a scholar in the frontier 
town where scholarship was rare. His neighbors liked the tall, awkward youth 
who talked with them so pleasantly of the stories he had read. They were 
proudof his physical strength and openly boasted that he could outrun and 
out-wrestle all others in the place, — a claim their champion had no trouble in 
making good. 

His thirst for knowledge grew with the years. To walk several miles in 
search of a grammar seemed to him a light task for so rich a reward. Every 
leisure moment saw him poring over the new-found treasure. One does not 
know whether he ever owned a geography. Perhaps he took his first lesson in 
that science when, journeying down the Mississippi to New Orleans, he saw a 
little corner of the great country that lay outside his Indiana home. This jour- 
ney was an eventful one to Lincoln, then a young man of nineteen. The flat- 
boat, of which he was captain, was loaded with corn and other produce for the 
southern trade. He viewed with curious Interest the streets of New Orleans. 
In Its noisy market, jostled by sailors from all over the world, his ear caught 
the strange music of a foreign tongue. He felt himself a part of the city's 
throbbing life. What wonder that, when he turned again to the north, new 
fancies were stirring In his brain. 

Not long after Lincoln's river voyage, his father's restless spirit led him to 
seek a home in Macon County, 
Illinois. Abraham, having 
reached the years of manhood, 
became a citizen of that state. 

There was little to distin- 
guish him from other men of his 
time. He was as poor as any. 
The forest echoed the sturdy 
blows of his axe as he swung it 
to pay for the clothing he wore. 
His garments were Ill-fitting and 
carelessly worn. No grace ot 
manner, either then or afterward, 
marked him as a hero. He had 
splendid strength of body, but 
a mind untrained, yet capable of ,, ],-, jt^ „„isy market" 




THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




From " Story of Abrali, 
Copyriglit, iSqi, Abrah 



1 Lincoln " by Eleanor Gri Jley. 
1 Lincoln Log Cabin Associatioi 



His father's restless spirit led him to 
Macon Countv, Illinois' 



ck a home in 



great power. In ad- 
dition, he possessed 
as a heritage troni his 
mother, a certain high 
ambition to make the 
most ot every oppor- 
tunity that came in 
his way. This led 
him to keep on with 
his studies and to try 
all kinds of work. 
Life became rather 
more serious, especial- 
ly, when, on a second 
visit to New Orleans, 
he came face to face 
with the institution of 
slavery, and saw men 
and women sold like cattle in the open market. The spirit of freedom was in 
Lincoln's blood and the sight struck him with horror. Turning to a friend, 
we are told that he exclaimed, with quivering lips, "If ever I get a chance to 
hit that thing (meaning slavery) I'll hit it hard." We shall see how truly, 
and with what anguish ot heart, he kept that early vow. 

On his return to New Salem, Lincoln, the river boatman, became Lincoln, 
the storekeeper. A more popular or obliging clerk could hardly have been 
found. His honesty was above reproach; his skill in the art of story-telling 
beyond question. Customers lingered to enjoy his homely wit until the village 
store became the social center ot the place. Sometimes the evening talk drifted 
into politics, for the story-teller was always interested in public matters. 

When the Sac and Fox Indians grew so hostile that soldiers were needed 
to defend the white settlements ot the West, Lincoln gave up his clerkship to 
enter the list of volunteers. He was made captain of a company. The cam- 
paign lasted only three months. When the troops were dismissed he deter- 
mined to have a store of his own. In this enterprise he was joined by another 
young man. The two bought a small stock of goods and began business for 
themselves. Perhaps indoor life was dull in contrast to days spent on horse- 
back under the open sky ; or it may be, the youthful merchant's thoughts 



8 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



strayed too often to his books ; for at this time, Shakespeare and Burns were 
weaving their magic spell about him. At any rate, it seems that Lincoln's 
heart was scarcely in the work ; and the partner proving incapable, one is not 
surprised to learn that the business was somewhat of a failure and finally 
"winked out," as Lincoln himself put it with quaint humor. 

His need of money was now more urgent than ever, for he had contracted 
debts which must be paid. Being offered the position of deputy surveyor, he 
immediately accepted it, although he knew nothing of surveying. Six weeks 
hard study prepared him for the work. The work itself brought him in con- 
tact with many people, who admired his energy and liked his neighborly ways. 
They sent him to Springfield to represent them in the legislature. 

There Lincoln met some of the brightest men of the day- — a privilege he 
keenly appreciated. Many of them were destined to brilliant futures, but not 
one rose to so high a place in the hearts of men as the stiff, shy member from 
Sangamon who was so quick to recognize their greater learning, and gave such 
close attention to their speeches. With the same desire for improvement that 
marked his boyhood, Lincoln now resolved to study these men whose oppor- 
tunities in life had been better than his own. He studied them to such good 
advantage, and made himself so useful to the people of his county, that they 
continued to re-elect him for a period of eight years, when his own affairs made 
it impossible for him to serve them longer. 

During these years 
Lincoln was far from 
being idle. When the 
legislature was not in 
session, he was either 
engaged in surveying 
or in reading law. At 
the age of twenty- 
seven he was admitted 
to the bar. 

The town of 
Springfield offered so 
many inducements to 
men of his profession, 
that Lincoln decided 
" They sent him to Springfield to represent them in the legislature " to make it his home. 




THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



The change made with some reluctance proved a fortunate one. He was soon 
receiving a fair income from his law practice. The same qualities that had 
endeared him to the people of New Salem won him a place in Springfield. 
The social life of the town was delightful. Lincoln, though never gay, was 
always friendly. Here and there in many a quiet home he became a favorite 
guest. After his marriage Mrs. Lincoln's gracious hospitality and Lincoln's 
personal charm made their own fireside a place about which friends liked to 
gather. Amid the activities of private life he still found time for public duties. 
When he entered Washington to take his seat as a member of the 
Thirtieth Congress, the town was very different from the beautiful city of today. 




' The beautihil citv of todav. 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




'The Capitol was without its present wings or its western terrace " 



The Capitol was without its present wings or its western terrace. It lacked the 
massive dome above which the statue of Liberty, with sheathed sword and 
eagle's crest, now rises. The Patent Office and the Treasury are among 
the few old landmarks that remain unchanged. The house where Lincoln 
lived stood on ground now occupied by the Congressional Library. 

Those months at the Nation's Capital were pleasant ones to Lincoln. 
His speeches on certain grave questions then before Congress attracted the 
attention of many to whom the speaker was as yet unknown. The people of 
the East began to ask what manner of man he was. They of the West 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




" The house where Lincohi lived stood on ground now occupied by the Congressional Library " 

already knew. " Honest Abe," they called him, and spoke the words in love. 
When the session was ended, and he returned to Illinois, they gave him the 
whole-souled welcome which is still so charming a characteristic of that western 
land. 

To his townspeople Lincoln seemed a tvpe of all that was best in citizen- 
ship. He was not merely willing but eager to aid in any enterprise to advance 
the city's interests. There are beautiful stories of his helpfulness to both old 
and young. The children of Springfield rejoiced in his friendship. They 
divined, with the sure instinct of childhood, that this grave-faced man was 
himself but a child at heart. His own boys found in him a royal playmate. 



12 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




Honest Abe,' they called him, and spoke the words in love 



13 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



One would like to linger over the story of these days. The burden of debt 
which had weighed so heavily upon Lincoln had been lifted. The shadow of 
the struggle that was to darken all his later life had not yet fallen. For a little 
time we may think of him in the quiet enjoyment of his home. 

Meanwhile his interest in national aftairs steadily increased. As the years 
went by he grew more and more absorbed in political questions. His speeches 
during the Lincoln-Douglas debate are among the most remarkable in our 
history. They brought Lincoln unexpected hime. He became an acknowl- 
edged leader in the Republican party, which, two years later, nominated him 
for President. He was not a popular candidate, except in the West, where his 
fitness tor leadership had long been known. The Last preferred a man ot its 




For a little time we may think ot him in the quiet enjovment of his home' 



H 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



own choosing, but conceding Mr. Lincoln's rare ability, gave him its warm 
support. The South was openly defiant. It desired the extension of slavery 
throughout the territories of the United States, a policy to which Lincoln was 
firmly opposed. He was opposed, also, to any violation of the Constitution, 
and held that no State could lawfully withdraw from the Union without the 
consent of the others. 

The people of the South hated the principles for which Lincoln stood. 
In the blindness of their rage, they even thought they hated him — "the 
gentlest soul that ever ruled a State." While loyal hearts in every corner ot 
the land were exulting over the news of his election. South Carolina withdrew 
from the Union. Before he was inaugurated six of the cotton-growing states 
had followed in her wake. The battle-cry of the Rebellion had been sounded. 

Yet the tone of Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural Address was most friendly : "In 
your hands," he said, "my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is 
the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You 
can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no 
oath registered in heaven to destroy the government ; while I shall have the 
most solemn one, to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it." 

" I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not 
be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds 
of affection." 

" The mvstic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, 
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will 
be, by the better angels of our nature." 

Lincoln's oath of oflice to "protect and defend the Constitution" was no 
idle promise. To its faithful keeping he devoted every power that he pos- 
sessed. Through all the years until his life's tragic end, his determination to 
preserve the Union never wavered. Neither was he deceived as to the nature 
of the struggle upon which he had entered. No other President, probably, 
ever crossed the threshold of the White House bowed down with such a 
weight of care. He knew that the secession of the Southern States was a blow 
at the Nation's heart. The Union itself was threatened. Nor were its foes 
all from without. In the very streets of the Capital treason had found a foot- 
hold. The North was hesitating and bewildered. Not until the rebels fired 
upon the old flag at Fort Sumter did it wake from its strange indifference. 
Then like one man it sprang to arms. 

IS 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



The President's call tor seventy-five thousand volunteers to aid in crush- 
ing the Rebellion was answered with enthusiasm. From every loyal state men 
hastened to the defense of the Capital. As he watched the long line of troops 
march past the White House grounds, the President's heart grew lighter. He 
felt that he no longer stood alone, yet from the southern windows of his home 
he saw the Confederate colors flying over Alexandria, and knew that for what 
they deemed the honor of that flag, men as hrave as any living were gathering 
in the south. 




No other President, probably, e\er cro.^sed the threshold of the White House 
bowed down with such a weight of care" 



i6 



THE STORY OF LINCOL'N 



He was unable to share in the popular belief that the war would soon be 
over. His clearer vision told him that an anguished country would count its 
slain by thousands ere victory should come. His sense of responsibility was 
very great. The look of sadness, so marked in all his portraits, never wholly 
left his face. The lines about his firm mouth deepened. But the government, 
still reeling from the shock it had received, felt the pressure of his steady hand 
and gained confidence from the outward calmness of his inanner. 

As Commander-in-chief Lincoln was well-nigh worshipped by the rank 
and file of the army. He had generals who showed him small respect and 
proved unworthy of his faith. Statesmen were not wanting to question the 
soundness of his judgment. There were men in all stations of life who 
misunderstood his motives and even doubted their honesty. With truer in- 
sight into Lincoln's real nature the common soldiers trusted him like children. 
In return he gave them his heart. More and more often as the clouds of war 
grew darker, he would turn from a distinguished guest to hear the story of 
some suffering mother whose son was under sentence of death for neglect of 
duty. He always listened with respect to these humble visitors, and when 
it did not conflict with his sense of justice granted the pardon for which they 
came. His officers complained that so frequent a use of his pardoning power 
interfered with the discipline of the army. " The land is full of mourning," 
the President would reply, " I can sleep better tonight for knowing I have 
spared the life of some poor boy." 

At the end of the year the country began to realize that instead of being 
over, as many had anticipated, the war had only just begun. The advantage 
lay with the South, though neither army had accomplished much. The troops 
on both sides were poorly drilled. This was especially true of the Union 
forces, the Confederates being more accustomed to horsemanship and the use of 
firearms. You remember how the untrained Northern soldiers fell back at the 
battle of Bull Run. 

Soon after this event the President drove to all the military camps near 
Washington. It was his custom to visit these camps each day, " running over 
to see the boys " he called it, in his simple fashion. No guest was ever more 
welcome. His presence had an excellent effect on the spirits of the men, 
drooping under the humiliation of defeat. His manner plainly showed an 
unshaken faith in their courage. At the same time he busied himself in the 
work of reorganizing the army which, under the wholesome influence of daily 
drills, soon recovered from the panic of its first engagement. 



17 



TiHE STORY OF LINCOLN 



■M . 




' You remember how tlie untrained Northern soldiers fell back at 
the battle of Bull Run " 



On the whole, the 
spring campaign ot 
eighteen hundred 
sixty-two was favorable 
to the North. Febru- 
ary brought the cheer- 
ing news that Grant 
had captured Fort 
Donelson. His sturdy 
answer to the comman- 
der of the fort who had 
asked what terms could 
be made, — " No terms 
except an uncondition- 
al and immediate sur- 
render can be accepted. 
I propose to move im- 
mediately upon your 
works," was quoted far and wide. During the next month the queer little 
Monitor won its brilliant victory in Hampton Roads. In April of the same 
year the I'"ederal fleet under Commodore Farragut forced its way past the forts 
guarding the mouth ot the Mississippi and took possession of New Orleans. 

Meanwhile the Confederates gained ground in the East. The Union forces 
under McClellan lost heavily at Fair Oaks. " Stonewall " Jackson made his 
famous sally into the Shenandoah valley, driving the blue-coats like sheep before 
him. The Southern army under its gallant leader, General Robert E. Lee, 
camped on the soil of Maryland, and seemed to the disheartened North about 
to enter Washington itself. 

Alert as any sentinel at the front, the President watched at home. Tirelessly 
as any soldier, though with different weapons, he fought within its capital the 
foes of the Republic. Their methods were not always those of honest warfare. 
Sometimes they came disguised as friends to urge upon the President a policy 
fVom which his upright soul recoiled. Often the men who fought at his side 
huidtred, by impatient action, the very cause for whose success they prayed. 
Embittered by repeated failure and weary of waiting for victory long delayed, 
they even blamed the President for his great forbearance, mistaking it for 
weakness. " We are in doubt," they complained, " as to the purpose of the 



i8 



THE STORY Ot? LINCOLN 




" A gallant leader " 
General Robert E. Lee 



19 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




The queer little Monitor won its brilliant victory 
in Hampton Roads " 



policy the President seems to be pursuing." Lincoln's reply was clear as 
crystal. " I would sa\'e the Union," he wrote, " I would save it the shortest 
way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, 
the nearer the L^nion w dl be ' the Lhiion as it was.' If there be those who 
would not save the L'nion unless they coidd at the same time destroy slavery, 
I do not agree with theni. M\- paramount object in this struij'ijle is to save the 
Unitjn and is not either to save or to destroy slaver)'. If I coidel save the 
Union without treeing any slave, I would do it; and it I could save it by 
treeing all the slaves, I would do it; and it I could save it by freeing some and 
leaving others alone, 1 would also do that. What I do about slavery and the 
colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I 
forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I 
shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall 
try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so 
fast as they shall appear to be true views." 

Some time before he wrote these lines the President had determined on the 
course that he would take. The first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation 
lay even then within his desk. He had written it after days and nights of 
anxious thought and without the knowledge of his Cabinet. It \\as a weapon 
against the slave states Lincoln did not wish to use. In his love for the whole 
country he felt that he was President of North and South alike. Earnestly 




Smitli 
Seward 



" Calling his Cabinet together, Lincoln read to them the paper, the \vriting of which, had he done 
nothing else, would have made his name immortal" 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




■ And for thousands of human beings a New Year had dawned indeed' 



22 

LofC. 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



desiring to save the " Union as it was " he had waited patiently tor many- 
months. Now he regarded the proclamation as a " military measure necessary 
for the preservation of the Union." He meant to issue it whenever it should 
become clear that the time to do so had arrived. The success of the Union 
army at Antietam furnished the opportunity tor which he had been looking. 
Calling his Cabinet together, Lincoln read to them the paper, the writing of 
which, had he done nothing else, would have made his name immortal. It 
provided that on the following New Year's day in all such states as had not 
by that time returned to their allegiance the slaves should be thencetorth and 
forever free. 

Next morning's papers published the proclamation which afterwards took 
its place among the great documents of the world. Yet even as they read its 
splendid promise men doubted the courage of the writer. " He will never dare 
to sign It," they said, having yet to learn how like a rock for the thing he 
believed to be right, their President would stanci. He signed the proclamation, 
in the executive chamber of the White House on the atternoon of January first, 
eighteen hundred sixty-three. And tor thousands of human beings a New 
Year had dawned indeed. 

The President did not expect to end the war immediately by giving the 
slaves their freedom. He hoped the measure would weaken the power ot the 
Confederacy. That such would be the result was not at first apparent. For 
while the government's clearly defined policy toward slavery united the different 
factions in the North, in the South it tanned to fiercer heat the spirit of 
rebellion. The battle-fields of the next summer witnessed some of the most 
desperate fighting the world has ever seen. At Chancellorsville and Gettysburg 
the loss of lite on both sides was appalling. On July tourth, after a long siege, 
the stronghold ot V^icksburg surrendered to General Cirant; and trfim that time 
it was evident to those who watched the contlict from afar that the Confederate 
cause was hopeless. Yet the South showed no sign of yielding, and for manv 
months the awful strife went on. Again and again, before the struggle ended, 
the President's call for soldiers sounded in the North. Again and again the 
manhood of the North responded, and its homes gave up their treasure. 

With a heavy heart the l-'resident saw the wasting ot his country and heard 
its bitter cry. " I shall never be glad any more," he said. Yet sometimes the 
shadows lifted for an instant, and his laugh, which Mr. Lincoln's friends used 
to say was like no other laugh in all the world, rang out. Those who called 



13 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




Copyright, iS5q, W. H. Tipton 

" At Gettysburg the loss of life on both sides was appalling " 



upon him in the early evening fotmd him phiying with his child, little "Tad," 
whose innocent gayety made the sunshine of those gloomy hours. 

By the spring of sixty-four Washington had become one vast hospital, a 
city of white tents, past which the President drove each day in going from the 
Executive Mansion to his summer cottage at the Soldiers' Home. He often 
visited the wards, whose occupants watched eagerly tor his coming. Looking 
into the strong, tender face, bending so graciously above him, many a Southern 
prisoner understood why the President's own soldiers served him with such 
beautiful devotion. 

The capture ot Atlanta on September second occurred at a fortunate time. 
The Presidential election was approaching. Mr. Lincoln was again the candi- 
date of the Republican party. Sherman's victory at Atlanta, preceded by 

24 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



Farragut's success in Mobile Bay, and quickly followed by Sheridan's dashing 
ride through the Shenandoah valley, greatly strengthened the Administration. 
Though re-elected by a large majority, the President felt no personal triumph, 
only gratitude to the people for the confidence they had shown. " The election 
has demonstrated," he said, in addressing one of the political clubs of the 
District, " that a people's government can sustain a national election In the 
midst of a great civil war. Until now, it has not been known to the world that 
this was a possibility. It shows, also, how strong and sound we are. * * # 
It shows, also, that we have more men now than we had when the war began. 
Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, patriotic men are better than gold." 







The capture of Atlanta occurred at a fortunate time ' 



25 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



While the coiinfry was still discussing the results of the election, Sherman 
began his long march to the sea. His capture of Savannah was a severe blow 
to the alreaciy weakened Confederacy. When Mr. Lincoln delivered his 
second Inaugural Address, the end of the Rebellion was at hand. Hating war, 
he had led the jieople through four long years of dreadful warfare. How his 
great heart must have rejoiced as he spoke to them now ot the things that 
make tor peace : - 

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, 
as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; 
to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, 
and for his widow ami orphans, — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just 
and lasting jieace among ourseK'es, and with all nations." 







^.^^'^: 



:j^'»^'>; 



^PBfc-«^P^==T' y- -^ - -> -^r-F ^*-, 



-.., > ^ 1l^^. ^j,-j^fc(» '~^*>^-J^ 




' Sherm.ui began his long march to the sea" 



26 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




"The Union troops entered Richmond and raised the American flag over the Confederate Capitol " 

Early in April the Union troops entered Richmond and raised the American 
flag over the Confederate Capitol. A little later the remnant of Lee's fine army 
surrendered to General Grant, who, catching the spirit of Mr. Lincoln's 
Inaugural Address, permitted the Southern soldiers to retain their horses, saying 
they would need them for the spring plowing. 

On the morning of April fourteenth, tidings that the war was over flashed 
through the North. In its soft beauty the day itself gave promise of the 
summer yet to come. Each heart shared the season's gladness. Every one 
felt, as James Russell Lowell wrote his friend, that the news was indeed from 
Heaven. But in the midst of its rejoicing, a sudden silence fell upon the land. 



27 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



Late in the evening Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln entered a private box at Ford's 
rheater. The people rose to greet them, and the smiling President bowed in 




■ Late in the evening Mr. .ind Mrs. Lincoln entered u private box at Ford's Tlieater 



28 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



answer to their cheers. 
No one dreamed of 
any danrrer. All eyes 
were centered on the 
stage, when the laugh- 
ing audience, startled 
by the report of a 
pistol, heard a woman's 
voice cry out, " The 
President is shot." 
The Stars and Stripes 
he loved so well were 
draped beneath the 
President's box. The 
man who had so dis- 
honored his country's 
flag caught his spur 
within its folds and 
fell heavily to the 
floor. Though badly 
iiijin-ed, he quickly re- 
covered himself and, 
aided by the terrible 
confusion, made his 
escape. 

The dying Presi- 
dent was taken at once 
from the theater to a house near by. Outside its doors the people waited for 
the dawn to dispel the shadows of the night. To him who lay so quietly 
within its darkened chamber, the morning had already come. A few hours 
later the body of the dead President was carried through the hushed streets of 
the city to the private apartments of the White House. 

The nation's jo)' had turned to deepest sorrow. With passionate grief 
the country mourned its fallen leader. At the hour appointed tor his funeral, 
and while he lay in state within the rotunda of the Capitol, services were held 
in many churches throughout the land. The love of the people could not be 




' The dying President was t.iken at once from the theater 
to a house near by " 



29 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 




■ The old historic building within whose walls the Union he had saved had 
had its stormy birth " 



30 



THE STORY OF LINCOLN 



denied, and so the train that bore him to his distant home often waited that 
citizens of the towns along the way might look once more upon his peaceful 
face. In the "City of Brotherly Love" the President was carried to the old 
historic building within whose walls the Union he had saved had had its stormy 
birth. His homeward journey followed the same route over which he had 
come to Washington a few short years before. Under arches bright with flags, 
over bridges hung with green, through stations decked with flowers, the sad 
procession passed. Beside his western grave the nation gave hini to his own. 
The o;lory of the sunset was fading trom the sky as, with tender hands, his 
neighibors laici the President at rest. 




31 



ilincolu'si Htitircss at #ctti>sl)urg 

November ig, 1863 

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing \shether that 
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We 
have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting- 
place for those who here gave their lives that that nation 
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should 
do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, 
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far 
beyond our power to add or detract. The world will little 
note, nor long remember, what we say here; but it can never 
forget what they did here. It is tor us, the living, rather to 
be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who 
f night here ha\'e thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for 
us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, 
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to 
that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devo- 
tion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not 
have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a 
new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, 
by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the 
earth." 



f6. 



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LIBRORY OF CONGRESS 

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